Requiem
by CloudSpires1295
Summary: Part of the Shay 'verse. Sisfic episode coda for 4x16 "On the Head of A Pin". Suddenly it was as if she didn't know her brother anymore… or maybe she never knew him to begin with.


**I kinda meshed two scenes into one here, the scene where Ruby first arrives to the motel room after Dean gets angel-napped, and the one where she does the tracking spell to find Dean. Shay knows that Sam's right in the sense that Dean came back from Hell different, but she's not overly fond of her younger brother referring to her twin brother as weak. Add in the fact that she's hella suspicious of Sam right now, and you get the mild confrontation below.**

* * *

Shailene leaned against the motel room wall next to the front door, arms crossed over her chest and face set in a stoic mask. Her green eyes flicked back and forth between Sam and Ruby as they conversed quietly over the burned map on the cheap motel room dining table.

" _Something happened to him downstairs, Ruby. He's not what he used to be, he's not strong enough_."

A muscle in Shay's jaw twitched hard as Sam's words reached her ears and she exhaled sharply through her nose before speaking up.

"Okay, enough of this ' _Dean's not strong enough_ ' crap, Sam," Shay snapped irritably, shooting an ugly look at her little brother, "In case you haven't noticed, a good chunk of time has already passed since he got angel-napped, for all we know he could already be up to his elbows in that creep's guts."

Part of Shay fervently hoped that was the case. Alastair gave her the _creeps_ and the way his presence effected Dean made _her_ want to roll up her sleeves and cut a slice of him for herself.

"She's got a point, Sam," Ruby chimed in, "it's been hours since he got snatched, pretty sure we're well past the ' _fashionably late_ ' timeframe for this party."

Shay rolled her eyes, sarcasm practically dripping from her voice as she intoned, "Oh, I _forgot_ I needed you to translate logic for him because he only understands it when it's coming from _you_."

Sam snorted derisively at his sister's words and shared a loaded glance with Ruby. The brunette demoness's eyes darted pointedly towards Shay before returning to Sam, causing the blonde Winchester to mutter curses under her breath as she pushed away from the wall. She checked her pockets for her car keys as she approached the table.

Shay took a long look at the remaining scrap of burnt map on the table, "I'm headed out in my car, I'm not in the mood to share air with your walking, talking, sulphur scented air freshener on the drive there…" she regarded her younger brother and Ruby coolly, "catch up or get a quickie in, I could care less but I'm going after Dean _now_."

"We're not blind, Sam." Shay paused in the doorway, keys in hand, "but by all means, keep acting like you're not keeping secrets like you're Fort Knox." Before Sam could respond, she slammed the door behind her and hurried across the parking lot to her 'Stang.

*S*S*S*S*S*

Shay knelt on the gritty holy water and blood soaked floor, Dean's unconscious form draped over her lap, staring at Sam like she hadn't the slightest clue who he was. Cas, leaning up against a wooden support beam, had a similar expression on his usually stoic face. Alastair's body had slid down the wall to the concrete floor, the last faint traces of orange hellfire dying away beneath his skin. His meatsuits' face was perpetually stuck in a horrified expression, mouth frozen in an 'O' and eyes bucked wide.

A gurgled gasp for breath turned Shay's attention back to her twin brother, whose eyes were fluttering minutely as he fought to get air through his abused windpipe. She shook her head and gestured to Sam.

"Sam, help me get him to the car, he needs a hospital." Shay brushed her thumbs over his cheeks, "don't try to talk De, your throat can't take it right now."

Sam came out of whatever power drunk trance he'd fallen under when he started in on Alastair and hurried over to his older siblings. He pretended not to notice when his sister subtly recoiled from him when he got to her side. Instead he focused on scooping Dean up and carrying him out to the Impala.

*S*S*S*S*S*

It was telling how much Shay had gotten used to Cas popping in and out on them that she didn't even flinch when the sound of wings fluttering came from behind her. Maybe she was just a little too focused on Dean to really be on guard. She turned to look over her shoulder tiredly as the seraph stood awkwardly behind her, examining the machinery with his, as usual, squinted eyes.

"What happened in there, Cas?" the huntress asked tiredly, rubbing a hand over her face, "I'd think between you and Urinal, keeping a leaky pipe of all things from screwing up a devil's trap would be child's play."

"Urinal?" Cas queried, his eyes squinting further in confusion, "a leaking pipe would've been the very least of our worries, Shailene."

"Come to think of it, Urinal wasn't even _there_ ," She remarked aloofly, "wasn't this supposed to be a team effort?"

" _Uriel_ was seeking revelation at that time."

"Revelation…" Shay mulled the word over, "uh huh. He picked a _great_ time for that."

"I sense doubt and suspicion from you."

"I have my reasons." She responded distantly, "I don't blame you, Cas." Shay smiled weakly, "I mean, I'm pissed that Dean got hurt this badly on your watch, and I'm still not entirely sure about you angels as a whole… but you seem like a good egg."

"I am not an adequate vessel for avian reproduction," Cas looked mildly offended, "but I think I mostly understand your strange compliment. For what it's worth, I never wanted Dean to resume torture but my superiors deemed it a necessity."

"Of _course_ they did." Shay rolled her eyes skywards and muttered, " _dicks_ ," under her breath before returning her gaze to Castiel, "I mean, the leaky pipe thing could be just that, a leaky pipe but maybe you should dig into that just to be sure."

"That was my intent, Shailene." Cas nodded once before fading out of view with the signature sound of fluttering wings.

"Awesome," she looked down at her brother's bruised and swollen face, brushing the pad of her thumb along the edge of his jaw, "oh Dean…"

*S*S*S*S*S*

The blonde huntress moved away from the windows looking into her brother's hospital the moment she saw tears begin to flow down his cheeks, leaving him and Cas some privacy. In that moment she wished fervently that she knew how to help him, but she knew that there was nothing to be done. Her gaze flitted up from the black speckled white tile floors to the waiting area down the hall, where she saw Sam buying a soda from one of the machines.

Shay watched in silence as her younger brother popped the tab on the can of soda and took a deep swig, his Adam's apple bobbing in time with his swallows. The feeling of unease that'd been resting heavily in the pit of her stomach since she watched him kill Alastair grew heavier still as she watched.

The younger Winchester finished the soda quickly, wiping his mouth absently with the back of his free hand before crumpling the can and tossing it into a nearby trashcan. Sam's gaze was shifty as he looked both ways before noticing Shay watching him and making his way over.

Shay met him half-way and gestured towards the waiting room, "Dean's talking to Cas right now, let's give them some time alone." A small part of her seemed to cringe and recoil as she laid a guiding hand on the small of Sam's back, turning him back the way he'd came.

The elder Winchester cast furtive looks at her younger brother through her peripheral vision as they walked slowly down the hall, quietly wondering when Sam had become such a stranger to her.

Suddenly it was as if she didn't know her brother anymore… or maybe she never knew him to begin with.

* * *

 **I don't like the way this ended but it was either this or something that was even worse, so I'll just pick my battles and move on. Yes, the soda scene was meant to allude** ** _heavily_** **towards Sam's little problem.**

 **My annoyance with S4 Sam bled through heavily at the beginning.** ** _*insert sheepish apology here*_** **I don't know what I wanted from Sam during S4 but I definitely wanted him to stop talking about his brother in that manner. It's not so much a matter of right or wrong, he was right about Dean as much as I hated it, but… ugh I don't have the words to properly explain my thought process about it right now. My brain's funny that way.**

 **I'd also like to apologize for the gap between this update and the last one… whenever that was, I haven't felt remotely inspired to write anything for SPN since the end of S12. Certain elements in the last three episodes, along with other stuff from the rest of the season, just left a very bad taste in my mouth and turned me off of anything show-related for the last four months. It didn't help that I was introduced to a new show and fell head-over-heels in love with said show *** ** _cough_** ***** ** _Yuri! On Ice_** ***** ** _cough_** ***. I won't make any promises that the next ficlet/installment/whatever-you-wish-to-call-these will come any faster than this one did, but I can promise you that I'll try to keep myself inspired.**

 **I fervently hope that everyone enjoyed this little read. I'm not sure what episode I'll do next, I might just pick an unfinished ficlet and work from there. I do have some s12 stuff that I'll post if I ever finish any of it… For some odd reason a lot of ficlets for S12 end up having a pregnant Shay and I already have a separate sisfic 'verse where that particular Winchester sister has a child. I'm trying not to be repetitive in that respect.**

 **Sorry for the ramble, hope you enjoyed the ficlet!**

 ***~*** ** _CloudSpires1295_** ***~***


End file.
